COMMON-LAW MARRIAGE - CONNECTICUT

The information provided on the 211 eLibrary is
for educational purposes only. It is not intended to
be and should not be construed as legal advice.

WHAT IS COMMON-LAW MARRIAGE?

Common-law marriage is an informal or non-ceremonial
marriage, created by an agreement between a man and
woman who have the legal right to marry. People who
enter into a common-law marriage usually do not comply
with legal formalities such as a marriage license.
Connecticut does not recognize, and has never
recognized, common-law marriage. Currently, only
Alabama, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Iowa,
Kansas, Montana, New Hampshire (recognizes common-law
marriage for purposes of probate only), Oklahoma,
Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah
(recognizes common-law marriages only if they have
been validated by a court or administrative order),
recognize common-law marriages. In California,
for example, a marriage validly contracted in another
jurisdiction is valid even if it could not be legally
contracted within California; and a marriage that is
not validly contracted in another U.S. jurisdiction,
is not valid in California, even if it could have been
legally contracted in that state. Because
Connecticut does not recognize common-law marriage, a
man and a woman cannot enter into a common-law
marriage in the state of Connecticut.

OUT-OF STATE COMMON LAW MARRIAGES

Connecticut’s Courts have followed the “…generally
accepted rule that a marriage that is valid in the
state where contracted is valid everywhere . . . .
unless for some reason the marriage is contrary to the
strong public policy of the state required to rule on
its validity.” (Delaney v. Delaney)¹ This means that a
common-law marriage recognized as valid in one of the
states cited above will generally be accepted as valid
in Connecticut. However, because common-law is
established by court rulings rather than by
legislation, people who have a common-law marriage,
and then become residents of Connecticut, should not
assume that their common-law marriage is automatically
valid in Connecticut. If there are any legal disputes
related to the common-law marriage, it may take a
court ruling to establish a common-law marriage as
valid. People who have a common-law marriage, and are
considering a move to Connecticut, should consider
consulting with competent legal counsel before moving
to Connecticut.